INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS Congressional Conference Committee
Hashing Out Payroll-Tax Extension By the end of last month, Congress had to find some $160 billion in
new spending cuts or new revenues for a 10-month extension of the payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits and the Doc Fix, reports the NSTA. Te biggest obstacle facing the House-Senate Conference Committee will be how to cover (or pay for) the estimated $100 billion cost of a full-year extension. NSTA stated almost any pay-for is controversial: a federal employee
pay freeze for civilians (House bill), a millionaire’s surtax (proposed by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi), a repeal of oil and gas tax benefits for energy companies (President Obama proposal); and a repeal of all or parts of the new healthcare law (House-passed measures). “It is likely some balance of spending reductions and revenue increases will be necessary to achieve passage,” said NSTA.
Trans Tech Bus Placed on Approved GSA
Vendor List Federal agencies may now
purchase Trans Tech Bus models after
General
the company passed U.S. Services Administration
(GSA) testing standards and is now listed as a GSA-approved vendor. GSA is the mandatory source for the purchase of federal agency vehicles, and the GSA testing process ensures adequate standardization so that federal
agencies have access to
the highest quality transportation products available. “We are very pleased to be on the
GSA approved vendor list,” said Trans Tech Bus President Dan Daniels. “It was a thorough process and we are proud of the fact that we will now be able to sell our buses directly to federal agencies across the country.” Tis milestone is Trans Tech’s
second in the past three months: at the fall 2011 NAPT Summit, the company unveiled its new Type A, all-electric eTrans school bus.
New Production Equipment Helps Thomas Built Buses Improve Efficiency, Reduce Waste
Tomas Built Buses said new factory
equipment machines purchased over the past two years have allowed the company to reorganize its workflow and reduce the average time of fabricating parts. Te OEM said the purchase of two
4,000-watt laser cutters and a 20-foot-tall stacker in late 2010 and early 2011 allowed it to eliminate five other machines and reduce the time to fabricate parts by 25 percent. Te new equipment is part of the
company’s implementation of lean management. Tomas Built officials said the new laser cutters have also enabled it to bring production of more than 100 additional parts in-house, as it has been fabricating new bus parts and some replacement parts in the field for years. “Tese new lasers provide greater precision,
so we get the optimum number of parts from a sheet, reducing waste, and we can produce higher quality parts,” said Jeff Allen, vice president of operations for Tomas.
Find Starcraft Bus Dealer Listings Online Curious about which dealers nationwide supply Starcraft Bus to the school bus market? Authorized dealers and their contact information are listed by model and state on the company’s website at
www.starcraftbus.com/School/authorizeddealers.asp.
16 School Transportation News Magazine March 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68